March 19, 2009

• Give ear to my prayer, O Elohim

  Psalms 55:1-23  For the leader. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David: Listen, God, to my prayer! Don’t hide yourself from my plea!  (2)  Pay attention to me, and answer me! I am panic-stricken as I make my complaint, I shudder  (3)  at how the enemy shouts, at how the wicked oppress; for they keep heaping trouble on me and angrily tormenting me.  (4)  My heart within me is pounding in anguish, the terrors of death press down on me,  (5)  fear and trembling overwhelm me, horror covers me.  (6)  I said, “I wish I had wings like a dove! Then I could fly away and be at rest.  (7)  Yes, I would flee to a place far off, I would stay in the desert. (Selah)  (8)  I would quickly find me a shelter from the raging wind and storm.”  (9)  Confuse, Adonai, confound their speech! For I see violence and fighting in the city.  (10)  Day and night they go about its walls; within are malice and mischief.  (11)  Ruin is rife within it, oppression and fraud never leave its streets.  (12)  For it was not an enemy who insulted me; if it had been, I could have borne it. It was not my adversary who treated me with scorn; if it had been, I could have hidden myself.  (13)  But it was you, a man of my own kind, my companion, whom I knew well.  (14)  We used to share our hearts with each other; in the house of God we walked with the crowd.  (15)  May he put death on them; let them go down alive to Sh’ol; for evil is in their homes and also in their hearts.  (16)  But I will call on God, and ADONAI will save me.  (17)  Evening, morning and noon I complain and moan; but he hears my voice.  (18)  He redeems me and gives me peace, so that no one can come near me. For there were many who fought me.  (19)  God will hear and will humble them, yes, he who has sat on his throne from the start. (Selah) For they never change, and they don’t fear God.  (20)  [My companion] attacked those who were at peace with him; he broke his solemn word.  (21)  What he said sounded smoother than butter, but his heart was at war. His words seemed more soothing than oil, but in fact they were sharp swords.  (22)  Unload your burden on ADONAI, and he will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved.  (23)  But you will bring them down, God, into the deepest pit. Those men, so bloodthirsty and treacherous, will not live out half their days. But for my part, [ADONAI,] I put my trust in you.

  This is another one of David’s cries for help.

  David is thinking about running away from his problems. Hiding his head in the sand till all these things pass by. And it may seem like the right thing to do. It may seem so much easier to just run till things settle down again. But it won’t make it any easier and it won’t solve your problems. You have to face your problems in the strength of Adonai – that is the only solution.

  David is specifically speaking of his close friend, Ahithophel, who sided with Absalom, turning his back on David. Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba and I don’t think he ever forgave David for destroying his granddaughters marriage. And that bitterness grew and grew till it poisoned his life and was manifested in actions, in rebellion. If this was an enemy, David could have handled it, but this was his close friend, and that broke his heart.

  David understands their ultimate end, but the difficulty he has is that they talk sweetly to his face and then stab him in the back. It is hard to be nice to people like that, but do it unto HaShem. Don’t look for the pat on the back, or a thank you, for our service is truly unto HaShem.

  How do we keep going in life?
  How do we keep going when life isn’t fun, when people close to you betray you?
  We are sustained by praying.

  Luke 18:1-8  Then Yeshua told his talmidim a parable, in order to impress on them that they must always keep praying and not lose heart.  (2)  “In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected other people.  (3)  There was also in that town a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Give me a judgment against the man who is trying to ruin me.’  (4)  For a long time he refused; but after awhile, he said to himself, `I don’t fear God, and I don’t respect other people;  (5)  but because this widow is such a nudnik, I will see to it that she gets justice — otherwise, she’ll keep coming and pestering me till she wears me out!’”  (6)  Then the Lord commented, “Notice what this corrupt judge says.  (7)  Now won’t God grant justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Is he delaying long over them?  (8)  I tell you that he will judge in their favor, and quickly! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find this trust on the earth at all?”

  The point of the parable was not that the judge was a grumpy old man.  The point was that the woman continued to pray until she got her answer.

  We are sustained by casting our burdens upon HaShem.

  1 Peter 5:6-7  Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the right time he may lift you up.  (7)  Throw all your anxieties upon him, because he cares about you.

  There was a man who was bearing the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. His name is Dr. George McCauslin, the director of a YMCA near Pittsburgh. And in that western Pennsylvania YMCA that was losing membership, that had financial difficulties and terrible staff problems, George McCauslin found himself working 85 hours a week. He found himself getting little sleep at night. He took little time off. And when he was off, he was worrying and fretting about the problems of this YMCA.
  He went to a therapist who told him he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He had to learn somehow to let go and somehow to let G-d into his problems. He didn’t know quite how to do that.
  So George McCauslin took an afternoon off, took a pad and paper, and took a walk in the western Pennsylvania woods. As he walked through the cool woods, he could just feel his tight body and his tight neck start to relax. He sat down under a tree and sighed. For the first time in months he relaxed.
  He got out his pad and paper, and he decided that he would let them go, the burdens of his life. He wrote G-d a letter. He said, “Dear G-d, today I hereby resign as general manager of the universe. Love, George.”
  Then with a twinkle in his eye that is so characteristic of George McCauslin, he said, “And wonder of wonders, G-d accepted my resignation.”
  – Thomas Tewell, “The Weight of the World [1995],”

  Shalom

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